Most Pac-12 team fans expect their team to beat USC — but “bias” has nothing to do with that. Just pure expectation. I think “bias” is the wrong word to use.

I wouldn’t get “to” (to quote you) upset over my comments.

]]>By: Esquire Joehttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149909
Sat, 05 Jan 2013 01:20:05 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149909If you saw the Cal squad that finished last season absolutely dragging, there are a lot of troubling similarities with this current team. Lack of depth is just killing the Bears.

Sure, 0-fer from 3pt land might just be an off night, but it’s been two games of 0-fer. That tells me that the shooters might not have the legs they should. Either to get open on the perimeter or to get their shots off quickly.

Same with Crabbe’s and Cobbs’s drives to the bucket last night. Crabbe had a couple of really nice drives in the first half, but toward the end, I think his lack of finishing power and accuracy was at least partly due to a lack of strength/stamina. They shouldn’t have been intimidated by anyone in the middle for UCLA.

You can’t be too disappointed in Kravish’s progress. He doesn’t seem to lack effort, but I think he’s battling his own physical limitations. Somebody get BALCO on the line and feed that kid some growth hormone or something. Among the starters, it’s obviously Solomon who’s the real disappointment. He shows such brief flashes, but otherwise he still seems like he’s either thinking his way through every move or (worse) not thinking at all and turning the ball over or taking a brainless 20 footer.

The sad part is that it’s only January. It’s going to get worse, unless something quite unexpected happens.

Wallace has been a more-than-pleasant surprise. With his fast start and the effort he shows, I’m excited to see him mature. But given the injuries and lack of front court depth, this team is still at least three productive players away from even being able to perform up to its own talent level on a consistent basis.

I’m thinking that 4th place would be a very good result for this team, but even if that were to happen, I doubt that gets us into the NCAA tourney. NIT seems like a more appropriate goal.

]]>By: SteveNTexashttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149878
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:19:51 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149878Gobears – Not to biased are you? Most Pac 12 teams will win at USC which is ranked around 150.

Dan you say we didn’t play like a Montgomery coached team — but maybe it was the players..

Who do you think got us these players?

Our chance to make the NCAA’s is to hope everyone else in the Pac12 really sucks.

]]>By: gobears49http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149855
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:43:21 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149855If we beat USC, the L.A. swing will not cost us much and will keep up in the hunt for a top 3 finish in the Pac-12. A loss to USC would be pretty devastating to our chances to make the NCAA’s by putting us too much into a hole.
]]>By: gobears49http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149854
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:41:02 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149854Another positive is that I think we had more guys on the floor diving for balls than in prior games. I previously mentioned that this should be a team stat, even without taking into account who ended up with the ball. It is a “heart” stat. Shows desire. We showed a lot more of it last night, even though we lost.
]]>By: wehofxhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149842
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:58:46 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149842DiscD, agree. Solo’s 3 pointer marked the beg of the end. up to that point I thought we had a real shot at winning the game.

I’m sure Monty consulted w team physician but Kreklow looked terrible. He’s got guts and we sure could use his smarts, D, jumper and assists but for his own good, time to shut him down for the year.

also agree a lot of good comments above so I’ll point out the positives.

guards fed the post. solo and krav are starting to assert themselves. solo: double double, no whining or tantrums, not a great finisher – 4 for 13 – but I remain optimistic. krav: 4 for 9, 12R.

It seems like they both missed/fumbled a number of point blank shots and rebounds.

crabbe is finally driving to the cup. Could he do more? Yeah. But give the guy a break, he’s LEADING the pac 12 in scoring.

Cobb is going through 2nd year blues and figuring out how to adjust to being the man w Crabbe.

The team finally showed heart in battling back in the 2nd half down 16(??).

Agree 4/5 place team. but the 0 from 3 point line, when we get hot, we’re going to smoke a top team.

Shabuzz didn’t impress me like Bennet and McDermott(sp).

the player who impressed the hell out of me was “SloMo” Anderson. The Big Fundamental. He also showed our weakness in the low block.

]]>By: Erichttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149839
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:46:12 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149839Third place gets us into the tournament, and I don’t see this as a third place squad. Arizona, UCLA, and Colorado already seem significantly better than Cal.
]]>By: discdudehttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149833
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:08:51 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149833> Solomon just missed a 3-pointer (why?)

To me, the turning point. It was a close game until he did that, he missed and UCLA ran it up. Horrible choice and so totally and completely selfish. Cobbs, as the leader at point, should have gotten into his face. Even without the horses to complete with UCLA, they could have stayed close and maybe had a chance to sneak away with the win.

Kreklow seems done for the year now, I think they (Monty, Kreklow and the team) need to resign that he’s not going to be effective and there’s no reason for him to be out there. Heal up and look at next season. It’s like Franklin leaving, once it happens, you move on and sometimes it gets better.

Lots of good comments above. This still seems like a “rebuild” year at this point, about a 3rd to 5th place team, likely.

]]>By: The Wisdom Cowhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149811
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:03:52 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149811C’mon, Monty. Brandon Smith would have been the difference?
]]>By: Danhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2013/01/03/basketball-ucla-game-thread-9/comment-page-1/#comment-149810
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:53:25 +0000http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/?p=34270#comment-149810To me, the worst part of all this is this team just doesn’t play like a Mike Montgomery coached squad. Not sure I’d that is actually on Monty, or the players. Likely both.

A few random thoughts-

Cobs does not finish well at the rim- in fact, both he and Crabbe do not take it to the rim hard enough, and as a result they frequently don’t finish, and then also don’t get to the line for either 2 free throws or and an “and one”.

Solomon is very frustrating on the offensive end. First of all, why does he think he can EVER take a 3 point shot? Also, he hands, fundamentals, deftness shooting are all weak. Also, when the team really needs a bucket, they go down low to him for a shot, which is usually not successful.